Back to 2014 Annual Meeting Abstracts

BACKGROUND:
When a patient undergoes radiation therapy for the treatment of assorted pelvic cavity carcinomas, there is risk for radiation-induced pelvic cavity injuries. At times, these injuries can cause a patient to be unable to continue with activities of daily living. One particular radiation-induced pelvic cavity injury- radiation proctitis- occurs when healthy mucosal tissue becomes ischemic, leading to progressive atrophy and fibrosis of the epithelium within the rectum wall. This can lead to perforation, necrosis, and ulceration. In severe cases, rectal bleeding becomes so profuse that a patient mayrequire multiple blood transfusions. Hyperbaric Oxygenation Therapy (HBOT) increases the amount of oxygen available to ischemic tissues by increasing the partial pressure of oxygen, creating an increased oxygen gradient, which in turn promotes angiogenesis, an increased availability of nutrients, and fibroblast proliferation in radiated and damaged tissue.
METHODS:
The aim of this study was to present the outcomes of 13 patients who received HBOT for the treatment of three different radiation-induced pelvic cavity injuries: radiation proctitis, radiation vaginitis, and radiation enteritis. This was a retrospective chart review.
RESULTS:
Our results demonstrated that HBOT greatly improved the symptoms relating to those injuries in our patients, with some even reporting a complete healing and eradication of associated symptoms.
CONCLUSIONS:
Although there needs to be further evaluation on HBOT as a treatment for radiation-induced pelvic cavity injuries by means of a published double-blind randomized clinical trial, our results show that HBOT may be beneficial in minimizating/terminating related symptoms. Further studies should be directed towards elucidating what the appropriate pressure of oxygen is, and how many treatments under which the patients should go. Overall, HBOT seems promising for the treatment of radiation-induced pelvic cavity injuries as it addresses the pathology of the hypoxic and ischemic tissues, is seen to heal injured tissues when past interventions have failed, and carries fewer risks than surgical intervention.